March 2 - Bedřich Smetana (The Musical Birthday Series, 8th Annual Cycle)

Previous entries for March 2nd can be found here: Kurt Weill (2021); Bedřich Smetana (2020); Kurt Weill and Marc Blitzstein (2019), Desi Arnaz (2022), Kurt Weill; Bedřich Smetana (2023), Bedřich Smetana (2024), and Kurt Weill (2025)

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Bedřich Smetana (2 March 1824 – 12 May 1884) was an important Czech composer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carts and Horses

The overture, often played as a concert piece independently from the opera, was, unusually, composed before almost any of the other music had been written. -- Wikipedia

The charming show that's called The Bartered Bride,

   (The subject of this blog),

Was from the start a source of native pride,

    (And left the Czechs agog).

Its overture, a favorite far and wide,

Whose smash success is amply justified,

Is better known than that to which it's tied, --

   (The tail that wagged the dog).

 

If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.  [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Takes: Great Art Repurposed.] 

 

March 1 - This Blog; Frédéric Chopin (The Musical Birthday Series, 8th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for March 1st are here: Dimitri Mitropoulos (2019), Frédéric Chopin (2020), Frédéric Chopin; Harry Belafonte (2021), Frédéric Chopin; Harry Belafonte; Dinah Shore (2022), Frédéric Chopin; Glenn Miller (2023), Frédéric Chopin; Harry Belafonte (2024), and This Blog (2025)

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The Musical Birthday Series (b. 2019), with this post this blog begins its eighth year, although there are a few gaps when I didn't write for short periods of time. I am hoping to fill these in in due course.

 

 

Anniversary Limerick 

And as we begin on year eight,

I will take the occasion to state

That this blogger will stay

At his labor each day

With his whimsical, rhythmical gait.

 

 

♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪  

 

Frédéric Chopin (1 March 1810 – 17 October 1849) remains one of the most popular of the great nineteenth century composers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chasing the Fantaisie-Impromptu

When Chopin's great tune was debased

By lyrics where rainbows are chased,

Some musical snobs

Were upset by the mob's

Display of deplorable taste.

 

 

If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.  [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Takes: Great Art Repurposed.] 

 

 

February 28 - Bernadette Peters (The Musical Birthday Series, 7th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for February 28th are here: Jean-Baptiste Arban (2020), Geraldine Farrar (2021), Tommy Tune; John Alden Carpenter (2022), Bernadette Peters (2023), and Jake Bugg; Charles Bernstein (2024)

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Bernadette Peters (b. 28 February 1948) is an American actress, singer, and children's book author.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dot.com

Sondheim has said of Peters, "Like very few others, she sings and acts at the same time," he says. "Most performers act and then sing, act and then sing ... Bernadette is flawless as far as I'm concerned. I can't think of anything negative." -- Wikipedia

When Peters sang Sondheim you found

Such a wedding of lyrics and sound

That shows that were tops

Could have ended as flops

With no Bernadette Peters around.

 

If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.  [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Takes: Great Art Repurposed.] 

 

February 27 - Morten Lauridsen (The Musical Birthday Series, 7th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for February 28th are here: Hubert Parry (2020), Marian Anderson (2021), Elisabeth Welch; Johann Philipp Krieger (2022), Josh Groban (2023), Hubert Parry (2024), and Wilhelm Peterson-Berger (2025)

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Morten Lauridsen (b. 27 February 1943) is an American composer and teacher, known for his extremely popular choral music.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Advice

Since Lauridsen's music inspires

Such avid devotion from choirs,

One shouldn't pooh-pooh

His ethereal brew,

Or the transports to which it aspires.

 

 

If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.  [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Takes: Great Art Repurposed.] 

 

February 26 - Johnny Cash (The Musical Birthday Series, 7th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for February 26th are here: Frank Bridge (2020), Fats Domino; Betty Hutton (2021), Franz Strauss; Johnny Cash (2022), Anton Reicha (2023), Jackie Gleason (2024), and Stefano Landi (2025)

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Johnny Cash (26 February 1932 – 12 September 2003) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash Cachet

The wise would say it's rather rash

To pen a poem on Johnny Cash,

    Especially a light one,

For if you try to write a smash,

Invoke the ghost of Ogden Nash,

And smoke a cigarette to ash, 

And still you end up writing trash,

   It could come back to bite one.

But comic verse is just a dash

Of humor, nothing bold or brash,

A thing that's over in a flash, —

   And so I think I'll write one.

 

 

If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.  [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Takes: Great Art Repurposed.]